well, look at FIV--testing for FeLV has been much more common than for FIV. we constantly see people with 10 to 15-year-old cats who are tested as part of a regular workup, and "suddenly" are found to have FIV--they panic, and are too often told to euthanize based solely on that. um, folks? your positive older cat--the one you took in off the streets and neutered when he was a youngster, has had FIV all that time without any problem--he's no sicker now that you know than he was all the previous years. granted, FIV is NOT the same as FeLV, and i think we'd all be incredibly happy to have lots of 15-year-old FeLV positives wandering around, but one test result shouldn't make the difference between life and death.
and then there's the question of false positives--NO test is 100% accurate 100% of the time--with FIV, the snap test is notorious for giving false positives, which is why the western blot is considered the confirmatory test.
another reason why we all need to make sure we list our vets at www.adopt.bemikitties.com -- i'll take a vet who is willing to learn and work with their clients ANY DAY over one who won't, even if they aren't necessarily on the cutting edge of the research.
On 8/2/06, kandbz_ mom <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
That is a GOOD point! The vet that we went to said it is "unusual" for a kitten to test positive for felv...but then I brought up the point that they don't even routinely test kittens...they don't test them unless you ask for it. So, who knows how many kittens/cats actually have it and aren't tested because they have no symptoms.
TenHouseCats <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:by that logic, ANY cat who tests negative could be "harboring" the virus because who knows if they might have tested positive at some point in their lives.i'm sorry that i don't have the time right now to do the research, but it's fairly well documented that 70% of healthy adult cats exposed to the virus will throw it off. maybe someone else on the list has the citations...
On 8/2/06, Gina WN <[EMAIL PROTECTED] > wrote:Hi Everyone,A week ago when I took Pippin to the vet, I asked my vet about the upcoming second FeLV test that Pippin is going to have in September. I asked her if she agrees that cats can throw off the virus after having tested positive. She said she does not believe so, that she believes that cats who test negative after having tested positive are "harboring the virus" and that it can show up at any time in the future.We are going to keep Pippin regardless of her FeLV status. I do wonder if this vet's belief system could affect the care my girl receives if she does develop symptoms. What kinds of questions should I ask on behalf of Pippin? What should I look for in a vet treating a cat with FeLV?Thank you!Gina
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